Four family members of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Tuesday they faked the papers the BBC used as the basis for allegations that the DPRK has tested chemical weapons on prisoners.

Four family members of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Tuesday they faked the papers the BBC used as the basis for allegations that the DPRK has tested chemical weapons on prisoners.

At a press conference at the People's Culture Palace in Pyongyang, 59-year-old Kang Pyong-sob, his wife, second son and daughter, of DPRK's South Hamgyong Province, told reporters that his eldest son Kang Song-guk, who escaped abroad, cheated them to fake the materials detailing the testing of chemical weapons on humans.

In February, the BBC quoted these documents saying that prisoners were seen gassed to death in the DPRK.

The DPRK later called the charges lies invented by the defectors.

Kang Song-guk fled abroad many years ago and helped his family escape abroad later. To make a living, Kang decided to make false materials to obtain money from human rights organizations, the four said at Tuesday's conference.

Kang vamped-up five fake documents with the help of his family on Nov. 25 last year, they said.

The names and experiences of the five people in the documents, except one who has since died, were completely made up, they said.

Although the "reliability" of the documents was greatly enhanced by their make-up, the seal, which Kang secretly had made,appears to be false apparently for its raw and careless design andlettering, the four noted.

They said they felt very sorry that the fake materials were mis-used by foreign media "to attack the fatherland".